Sure, it’s a lot of pressure to play in the Super Bowl, but imagine doing so in front of Rihanna. The players were obviously excited to have her on the field, so much so that Brandon Marshall pranked Patrick Mahomes into thinking the “Umbrella” singer called him the greatest quarterback ever. “Whatever Rihanna says is like the gospels,” Mahomes replied earnestly. “So I’m glad that she went with me for that honor.”
Unfortunately, Mahomes explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that the Chiefs players weren’t allowed by their coach to watch Rihanna’s halftime performance. “Coach Reid told us, he said, ‘If you go out to watch the performance, just keep walking because you’re not playing the rest of the game,’” he said.
That’s a shame considering how hard Rihanna worked on her iconic performance. In an interview with Apple Music, she revealed that she changed the setlist a whopping 39 times while picking which of her hits to cram into 13 minutes.
She also explained why it was so important to her: “The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, so as scary as that was because I haven’t been on stage in seven years, there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all. It’s important for me to do this year. It’s important for representation. It’s important for my son to see that.”
Watch Mahomes’ full interview above.